500 Souls
by lightning027
Summary: Max White is a private detective working on the Kira case with her assistant, Cam, and Light Yagami is their first suspect.  As they dive deeper into the case, what will they find? Maybe love.  Maybe loss.  Probably both.  LxOC, MatsudaxOC, ?xOC
1. Homework

Chapter 1 - Homework

_OK . . . can't screw up. Remember, cool, witty, smart . . . nothing more, nothing less . . .try not to flirt too much . . . one screw up and it's all over . . ._ I rambled in my mind as I walked through the doors of my new school. I wasn't rambling like because I wanted to fit in and be popular. I'm on a mission.

I was supposed to investigate Light Yagami as a suspect for being Kira. Now you must be thinking I'm just a field agent that does all the work. You're wrong. From data my crew, the press, and other reliable sources gathered, I have come to the conclusion that Kira must be in high school, most likely at the top of the class, and not involved in many team or group activities because he believes that the others will just be a pain and that he wants to work alone. I have narrowed down my search, and Light is my first suspect. If he does anything suspicious, I will be the first to know.

I walked down the hall attracting a few glances. Now, I am not gorgeous. I'm just average. Golden blond hair, blue eyes, B cup, barely any hips. Not much. But I had decided in order to get close to Light I had to stand out, so I was out of dress code. I was wearing a black dress shirt, red tie (unlike the bow I should be wearing), black, white, and red plaid skirt, and black converse that almost reached my knees. I was going to have to be as attention grabbing as possible to interest a guy like Light.

I opened the classroom door and scanned the room, looking for Light. I found him sitting in a desk near the window, third row back. There was a desk open between Light and a brunette, so I walked across the room and took the seat, making quick eye contact with Light before I sat down.

"Hello, class, today we will be learning about quadratic formulas . . ." said the teacher, whose name tag said, Mr. Endo, I think. I had to learn Japanese in a short amount of time so some of it still confuses me.

"Would our new student miss . . . Max Whiatee? Please come to the front of the class?" he asked. I gave a small laugh. I had refused to use a Japanese alias when on this mission, so most people had trouble pronouncing my name.

"It's Max White, Endo-sensei," I said, trying to be polite. He looked at me strangely, but didn't do anything about my attire.

"Hello, I'm Max White, I transferred from the USA not too long ago and I am a decent student. I enjoy people. My favorite color is lime green, and I do not like soda. I am also interested in drawing, sports, and I want to be a detective. Thank you," I said with a smile. I walked back to my seat and sat down.

"Hey, did you really just transfer from America? I've always wanted to go there!," said the brunette. "Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Mai. It's nice to meet you!" Mai said, doing a strange bow from her seat and almost falling over.

"Haha, nice to meet you too," I said with a small smile. I could feel Light watching me. The teacher continued talking about whatever he was talking about. I found it hard to listen for three reasons. One- Light kept examining me, thinking that I wouldn't notice just because I wasn't looking at him. Does he do this to all the new kids? Two- Mai was doodling something in her book while giggling, which was very annoying. And three- I really didn't give a crap about the lesson. I probably learned whatever it was when I was originally in high school. I was very relieved when the bell rang for lunch.

"Hey, do you want to hang out at lunch?" Mai asked. A few girls were walking next to her giggling.

"Sure, I just need to talk to someone first. . . .," I said absentmindedly, looking at Light.

Mai gave me a knowing smile, said "see you later!" and walked to lunch with her friends. Now came the hard part. It was always the hardest when you have to talk to someone for the first time. But, unlike most people, I was more worried about blowing my cover than looking like an idiot. Well, those two things might be about the same . . .

"Hey!" I called to Light. He turned around and looked at me. I felt like I was being examined. I hate that feeling. Reminds me of doctors. I shuddered inwardly.

"Hey, Max," Light said. Huh, he actually pronounced it right.

"I noticed you watching me in class," I said. I needed to be very confrontational to get to him.

"Uh . . .yeah, " Light said. I noticed he stiffened a bit. He was uncomfortable; he probably didn't think I would notice that.

"You, know I really didn't understand what we were talking about in class, could you help me with it?" I said with a semi-flirty smile.

"Yeah, I guess so, where do you live?" He asked. He seemed a bit more relaxed now.

"Just meet me after school, we can talk then" I said, trying to smile and look normal. He smiled slightly and walked away. Phase one, complete.

I loosened up a bit at lunch. I'm always so tense and nervous during the first phase of a mission like this one. I have a feeling I need to be more like myself. Anyway, I am smart, and I doubt Light would reveal his secrets to a dumb girl. I tried to laugh at some of Mai's jokes during lunch, but to tell the truth, she wasn't that funny. And I know funny.

The rest of the school day I just zoned out once I made sure the topic we were discussing was one I knew or one that was increasingly boring. I doodled in my notebook. By the end of the day I had drawn a pretty detailed dragon. I opened my backpack to slide the "doodle notebook" in with my others. Yes, that's right, I only have notebooks in my backpack. I collect them. I know it's weird, but I can't get too much weirder, can I?

I met Light in the hallway. I smiled at him. "Let's go", I said. We walked back to my house in relative silence, which was fine by me.

We arrived at my place, which was a house at the edge of the city.

I walked into the house first, "CAAAAAM!" I yelled. Cam was probably doing more computer work. Good, reliable Cam.

"What is it Max? You know how I don't like yelling!," Cam said, walking down the stairs. She saw Light and her eyes got wide. She looked at me with her _how the hell do you work so fast _face. Then she smiled at Light.

"So, I see you've got a friend already!," she winked at me. "I'll just leave you two alone . . ." she started walking up the stairs.

"Cam, Light's here to help me with homework, and I need you to work some of your snack making magic!" I stated. I was trying hard to make myself blush, hoping Light would think I have a crush on him.

"I'm not really that hungry," Light said.

"Nonsense!," Cam exclaimed like a mother, "you NEED to eat this."

"Yeah, tonight we're gonna make pizza!" I exclaimed.

"Pizza? Um . . . not something I would usually eat," Light said.

"Well, if you don't like eating it, at least you'll like making it!" I said, getting out some pizza fixings. I pulled out some dough and started kneading it on the counter. Light looked at me strangely.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you gonna make some pizza?" I asked, smiling.

Light grinned slightly and helped me with the pizza. Surprisingly, I actually had fun. We then ate dinner with Cam, where she slyly brought out a very nice topic for conversation.

"So, how about that Kira?" Cam said, stuffing her mouth with pizza as she talked. Oh, Cam, perfect manners when she meets somebody new; then when you shove food under her nose she jumps on it like a puma.

"What about him?" asked Light, who was looking a bit uncomfortable holding greasy pizza with his hands.

"Well, do you agree with his ideas? Do you think that this is how criminals should be punished?" I asked, trying unsuccessfully to eat my pizza without it leaving an annoying string of cheese connecting the piece I bit with the main slice.

Light watched me deal with the cheese string as he debated his answer. "I think that criminals need to be punished, but humanely, not by murder" he answered.

I had a feeling that was what he would say.

"I'm pro-Kira myself, always liked the idea of taking the law into my own hands," said Cam between bites of pizza. "I mean, the world could always use less evil".

Cam was, of course, totally lying, but Light didn't need to know that.

"But doesn't Kira bring more evil into the world by murdering all those people?" I asked, faking astonishment at Cam's comment.

"What could be wrong with murdering a murderer?" Cam responded.

"I think we should move on to another topic," said Light, who looked even more uncomfortable.

"You're right Light, why don't we just go upstairs and you can help me with my homework?" I asked.

"OK," he said.

Cam looked at us angrily as we climbed the stairs to my room. My room was very strange, to say the least. Most teenage girls would have posters of bands on their walls, and stuff thrown all about the room, but I'm not a normal teenage girl. The headboard of my bed rested against the wall opposite the door. The walls to both sides of the door were covered with book cases, the wall to the left was filled with books, the wall to the right filled with all my notebooks. I also had a desk with a computer, and an iPod dock.

"Nice room," said Light, glancing at the book cases. "Are these all notebooks?"

"Yeah, I kind of collect them. Weird, huh?" I said, lying down on the floor. Light was looking at me with a strange expression. "Oh, I'm sorry, I usually do my homework on the floor." I said, patting the carpet next to me.

"You really are strange," Light commented playfully as he lied down. It felt kind of strange doing homework with someone, considering I never had problems in school. I asked a lot of questions, and Light explained them all calmly. When we were done with the homework, I decided to make small talk.

"So, do you like music?" I asked, putting my iPod into the dock and scrolling through the songs.

"Yeah, I guess," Light said. I turned on the Beatles "Let It Be". Of course it was in English, so Light was a bit confused.

"This song is in English, by a British band called the Beatles, do you know who they are?" I asked Light. He shook his head no. I then commenced to telling him about the Beatles and their music. Then we just listened to the song, which had changed to "Hey Jude". I started singing along. Light looked at me strangely again, it seems like he does that a lot. "Come, on, you can sing along too!" I said playfully. Soon he was singing along too, and we were both swaying. It was kind of fun. Well, I do always like it when my work is fun.

"Now let's pump up the volume!" I said, turning up the volume and changing the song to Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher". Light and I had fun, he was playing air guitar as I jumped on the bed and played air drums. By the time the song was over, we were both sprawled on the floor, laughing.

"Haha! That was the best time I've had in a while, Maxi-chan," Light said. I didn't know if he was referring to me as a friend or an inferior. I decided on friend.

"I had fun too Light-kun! Who knew we could have so much fun when we just can here to do homework!" I exclaimed, smiling widely. "Do you think you could come over another time too?" I asked.

"Sure, as long as we get to eat some more of that food. It was delicious!" Light said, smiling as we walked down the stairs.

"Bye! See you soon!" I called as he walked out the door. As soon as he was at the sidewalk, I closed the door and yelled "SCORE!"

Cam came upstairs from her computer lab setup in the basement. "Score" was our way of saying that the plan was going well so far.

"Already! Damn, you work fast," she said. "Are sure he's Kira?"

"If I was sure, would I be investigating? But I think he is 26% Kira right now," I said, sitting down on the sofa.

"Ah, Max, you and your percents," Cam said, "did you get anything out of him?"

"Not yet, but I'm building a bond. If things keep up like this, I'll get my first piece of evidence by Friday, and we'll be heading to L on Saturday," I said.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," said Cam.


	2. Note

**Author's Note-** I'm sorry, would have put this on chapter one, but I'm new to the FanFiction format and forgot. Sorry!

Anyway, the OCs in this FanFiction are Max White(Max, Maxi-chan), Cameron Bailey Redwood (Cam), and V. These are the only characters (that have appeared so far) that I own. I do not own Death Note, Light, or L. Although if I did, L wouldn't have died. He would have whooped Light's ass like Ohba and Obata originally planned.

This is my first story on this site, and I am relatively new here. I would love feedback on this story, negative or positive, because on a previous writing site I only had two friends (you know who you are), and only they helped me out with my writing.

I have already written 15 chapters for this story and plan to post them on Fridays, after I have posted the first three. If you just can't stand to wait, all fifteen chapters are on my quizilla account, which is my homepage. Thank you, and happy reading!

Chapter 2 - Note

I can't believe it's been almost a month and still nothing to prove Light is Kira. We've been studying together every Thursday night, and he tutors me every other Monday, but even if I bring up the subject of Kira, he always changes the subject, or says something completely normal and non-Kira and then changes the subject. Either that kid isn't Kira, or he's doing a damn good job of hiding it.

But today I have a good chance of finding out something. It's Saturday, and I finally got Light to invite me over to his house. Hopefully I can either get Light to admit to something, or snoop around in his room. Maybe I could put cameras up. No, that's probably illegal . . . hmm . . .

Light's POV

"Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk. I hear you're inviting that girl over today," Ryuk commented as he bit into another apple.

"It's not like I had a choice. The girl's been all over me since we met and was probably getting suspicious as to why I hadn't invited her yet," Light said as he checked the notebook. "She really does act strange at times, and she talks about Kira a lot."

"Maybe she's just interested in the case like everyone else. She doesn't exactly seem like detective material. Too dumb and emotional." Ryuk said.

"I guess you have a point, but I don't want to give anything away." Light tucked the notebook into the secret compartment of his drawer. "She may be pretty and seem dumb, but I will not underestimate her."

Normal POV

I arrived at Light's house about an hour early. I decided to get there early to see if there was anything in his house that could be considered evidence that he is Kira. I walked to the door and rang the doorbell.

"Hello? Who are you?" said a nice middle aged lady.

"Hello. I am Max, a friend of Light's. May I come in?" I said, and bowed.

"Oh, of course! Any friend of Light's is welcome in our house. Light isn't home right now though." The lady said.

"That's alright. Can I just wait in his room?" I asked.

"Of course! It's up the stairs and to the right." She said.

"Thank you." I called as I climbed the stairs. Perfect, just as I planned.

Light's POV

"Hey Light, a guy has been following you, ya know?" Ryuk commented as he and Light walked through the streets.

"I know, Ryuk, I have noticed him for some time now. I am working on a plan to have him reveal his identity to me. He won't be following us for much longer." Light replied.

Normal POV

I stepped into Light's room. It was fairly normal, except for a few, usually unnoticeable things. First of all, when I walked in, I noticed a paper stuck in the door. A normal trick to find out if anyone would walk into your room without your permission. I would have thought nothing of it, but then I noticed pencil lead on the top door hinge. This was a trick I didn't know of. Now I definitely suspect him.

Feeling confident that I would find something, I decided to search his room. It was surprisingly clean, not one thing out of place. That's weird, even for a scholar like him. Unless he has OCD.

I first checked his bed and his book shelves. I didn't find anything, except some dirty magazines. I was wearing gloves as I checked his room, to make sure I would not leave any fingerprints. I decided to move to his desk. I took a flash drive out of my pocket and connected it to Light's computer. Cam had loaded it with a virus capable of allowing Cam to hack his computer. I looked at his text books and other items scattered across the desk. Then I started to investigate the drawers.

One drawer looked more suspicious than the others. The one with the lock on it. I decided to work on that one first. I found the key quickly, it was hidden under his mattress. I unlocked the drawer to find . . . . a diary.

"How gay can you get?" I said to myself. I scanned the diary for anything important. Then I decided to check underneath the drawer to see if he had stuck any pieces of paper underneath. I do that sometimes with important documents, so it wouldn't hurt to look. I saw a small hole underneath the drawer.

"Hmm, that's strange." I said. I needed something to stick inside of it, no matter how wrong that sounded. I took a pen from Light's desk, unscrewed it, and took out the ink cartridge. "I guess this will work" I said. I stuck it in the hole. It pushed up a false bottom that was underneath the diary. I kept the pen in the hole, and took the diary and false bottom out, to see what Light was hiding so cleverly.

It was a notebook.

It was black, with white letters on the front cover, reading "Death Note". It was written in English. "strange . . ." I took it out of the drawer, and flipped through the pages.

I was scared of what I saw.

The names of criminals who died at the hands of Kira, written upon these pages. Hundreds of names.

I read the instructions, dumbfounded, and decided what I would do.

I ripped out twenty pages from the book, near the back of it.

I stuffed them in my bag.

I returned Light's room to normal.

And I braced myself to come face to face with who I now know is Kira.


	3. Demons

**(A/N –** Hello again! Just something random and Death Note related . . . this weekend I went to Staples (the office supply store) wearing an L shirt, looking for school supplies. They had an awesome supply of spinney chairs, and I was very tempted to sit in them like L. Also, I passed an area titled "snacks" all sweets like gummy worms. I was getting suspicious. Me and my mom found everything I needed, except for one thing? Can you guess what it was? A NOTEBOOK. O.O

Oh, and just for future reference, I really don't like Light and have a lot of problems writing for his character. He's more of a minor character in this FanFic, but that seems to make it worse. So I apologize in advance for Light looking stupider than he actually is.

Enjoy!)

Chapter 3 – Demons

He walked into the room. I was sitting on the bed, waiting for him.

"Hey Light!" I said, looking up at him and smiling. I froze. There, behind Light, was possibly the most hideous thing I had ever seen. I swallowed, and tried to cover my surprise and disgust by looking at Light again.

"Are you ready to work on those polynomials?" Light asked, getting out his textbook. I lied down on the bed, trying to clear my head and keep my cool, but the only thought running through my mind was _he could kill me he could kill me._ That and _Kira is teaching me math. And that ain't weird at all!_

He lied down next to me on the bed, our legs slightly touching. Light knew by now that I needed to lie down to study and do homework, but right now, I would rather my learning processing be anything but this, because lying on the bed was very unpleasant for me today. That _thing_ that was following Light around sat on the other end of the bed, humming to itself. HUMMING.

I think I must be going nuts. I'm lying on a bed next to Kira, and a weird demon thingy is humming next to me. If you think you have issues . . . .

I realized that Light was talking. I tried to listen and not act like a total freak and blow my cover. This is _so _much worse than when I first met him.

" . . . and that's basically it. Do you understand?" He asked.

"Sure, sure," I said, not listening to what he was saying, just looking into his eyes . . . . _the eyes of a killer._

"You look a little . . . frazzled? Do you need a break?" Light asked, sitting up and setting the book down.

"Yea, sure. I just didn't get that much sleep last night," I lied. "Why don't we get something to eat?"

"That would be nice, I'll get some stuff from the kitchen . . ." Light said, but then he noticed the large bag of Doritos I pulled from my purse. "Um . . . what's that?"

"Oh, these are Doritos, you want some?" I asked.

"Don't eat it Light, she could have poisoned it," the thing said. I jumped. _Shit._

"Hey, are you OK? Why did you jump like that?" Light asked. I could tell he was suspicious that I jumped at the exact time the thing said something.

I decided to play the sympathy card. I started bawling, crying my eyes out, letting all my anger, frustration, sadness, and fear out through the salty liquid.

"Don't cry Max, what's wrong? Did I say something?" Light asked, putting his arm around me. At first I flinched, thinking of how he had killed people . . . but, having to play the part, I cried into his shoulder. Not all my tears were fake.

"I-it's ju-just so h-ard, sometimes, ever si-ince my parents die-died," as I said died, I broke into hysterical sobs of true grief, soaking Light's shirt.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry . . . do you need anything? Tissues?" Light asked, trying to seem caring, but I saw right through it. He didn't care, the only thing he cared about was the silk tie I was drenching with tears. That somehow made me even sadder, and angrier.

My parents had really died. When I was 3, my mom died of breast cancer. When I was seven, my dad was murdered by a crazed serial killer. I had always been alone. But then I had found love, through my new friends and family when I had moved to live with my uncle. I lived a fairly normal life, still grieving at times, but making friends, and laughing. My dad had always said laughing is the key to a happy and successful life. I listened to him, and had a nice life while I finished elementary and middle school.

But fate struck again.

My uncle was killed by the same man who had murdered my dad. The night he was killed was clear, with a full moon. It was a Friday, I remember. I was about 14. He was killed while I was in the house. He screamed so loudly, I thought that people across the county could hear him. Then, I heard the killer slam the door. I should have been crying, curled in a ball in the corner of my room, waiting for someone to help me. But by then I knew I could only help myself. I grabbed the gun my uncle made me keep in my drawer, thinking that the killer might come after me.

But he was wrong.

I was going after the killer.

I ran out into the yard, strangely calm, and followed the killer into the woods around my house. I watched him slink into the darkness, thinking I could not do this, I couldn't become a murderer. I shot. I killed. I ran back to the house, hid the gun in the basement, and cried.

I hated myself for doing that. Fourteen years old and already there was blood on my hands. I hated that I had killed for revenge. Because of me, one more person was dead. One more than there needed to be. As the years went past, I thought about it a lot. I came to a conclusion. To kill someone is wrong, but if hurting someone, anyone, that is doing wrong, in order to save my family, was something I would do. The bad thing about that was I didn't know if hurting someone bad in order to save someone I loved was wrong or not.

After that I was found by the police, but they never discovered I had killed the murderer, crappy policemen that they are. I was taken to an orphanage and was put up for adoption, but every time a family wanted to adopt me, I would do something terrible so that they would not. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of me. But that was a long time ago.

That doesn't mean it will not haunt me.

That doesn't mean I won't cry.

Even if it does help to fool Kira into thinking that I'm some girl with issues that didn't just touch the Death Note and see that freaky_ thing._

At least it will help me convince him.

I stopped crying into Light's shirt and looked up at him, and wiped my tears. This man also knew what it was like to kill, but none of the people he killed hurt his family, the people he killed were bad in general. It was wrong. He was wrong. He will be stopped.

Justice will prevail.

"Are you . . . are you OK?" Light asked, feigning concern.

"I'm fine, it just hits me sometimes and I can't control it," I said with a small smile. He may have killed all those people, but I know his secret. I have an advantage, he doesn't know that I touched the notebook, that I know he is Kira. He may not know it, but he cannot kill me. I will win.

I left his house and returned to mine, as I walked in, I saw Cam sitting at the kitchen table eating some leftover chicken from last night.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked with a mouthful of chicken.

"We need to find L."


	4. V

**(A/N –** It's Friday! Do you know what that means? UPDATE! I would like to thank fezzesandbowtiesarecool for reviewing this story. I promise to message you once I get my own email address!

So, here's chapter four.)

Chapter 4 – V

"We need to find L," I said.

"Wait, what! Did you get some evidence? Is Light Kira? TELL ME!" Cam yelled while shaking me.

"Whoa, calm down! Yes, Light is Kira. I don't have any hard evidence, but now I know he is Kira," I stated.

"But if you have no evidence, how do you know he's Kira?" Cam asked, slightly confused. Cam had always been the kind of person to think that there is only black and white, good and bad, and there is no in between. She believes that without any evidence, there is no reason to believe that someone is guilty. But I know what I saw.

I could have taken the notebook then, and the killings could have stopped, and Kira would have been "dead". But there were so many things that could go wrong with that plan. Maybe the demon thing would come after the book for him, and kill me to get the book. Maybe he has pieces of the notebook hidden in his room, and he would somehow be able to kill me. Or he could shoot or stab me or something, he knows that I was the only one who could have taken the notebook . . . .

But I will find evidence, and hopefully I can catch Kira.

Hopefully.

"I know he's Kira because . . . I saw things today Cam, things that you, and even I, don't understand. But these things, do prove that Light is Kira."

"Well, why don't you have these 'things'?" Cam asked.

"Because he would know that they were taken by me, and he could kill me somehow. I won't take any chances. This is a game of wits, Cam. If you don't play your cards right, you could die," I stated, looking her in the eye.

"I hate it when you go all serious. Usually you're all 'let's watch old people fall over!' but when you get serious, it's like 'fill in the blank . . . or you die," Cam said, waving her hands for emphasis.

"Weirdo," I muttered, and smacked her on the back of the head. "But we really do need to start looking for L, and we should call V and see how she's doing, we haven't talked to her since we started the case. She probably thinks we were killed or something."

"Yeah, we should, and ow!" Cam exclaimed while rubbing the back of her head.

I shook my head and grabbed a bag of Doritos, some random candy from the candy bowl, and a bottle of water, and laid down on the sofa on my stomach. I opened the bag of Doritos and commenced to eating my dinner.

"Oh my god Max, you are so weird," Cam said, bringing her chicken with her as she sat down on the love seat.

"How am I weird! You're the one who's been obsessed with fried chicken ever since we went to Louisiana!" I countered.

Cam pouted and moved her chicken away from me. "At least I don't do everything lying down! It's kinda freaky!" she pointed out.

"You know it helps me think!" I yelled at her.

"And, _my_ food cravings are normal! Chicken is at least normal dinner food, you eat Doritos with everything! And sugar! You're lucky you're not diabetic!" Cam ranted.

"OK, first of all, I never eat Doritos for breakfast! And as for sugar, I only eat that sometimes . . .OK occasionally . . . for most meals . . ." I trailed off, knowing she got me. I am addicted to Doritos. I have been ever since I first had them when I was eight. Ever since then, I have eaten them at every available opportunity, except for breakfast. Eating Doritos for breakfast is just wrong. I do eat a lot of sweet things as well, but it's not like someone can resist the awesomeness of cookies! Or chocolate! Or sugar in general!

"Yeah, that's what I thought. You and your strange diet," Cam said, shaking her head and gnawing on a chicken bone.

I sighed. "Let's just watch something," I said. I stood up and walked to the basket where we kept all of our DVDs. "Family Guy or CSI?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"FAMILY GUY!" Cam shouted, flinging her chicken bone across the room and knocking a lamp off an end table.

I glared at her. "What did that poor lamp ever do to you?" I asked. We giggled, and I put the DVD into the player. The show started. It was the one where there's an apocalypse and the Griffins go to find the Twinkie factory.

When it was over, Cam and I were laughing our asses off. I had finished three fourths of the bag of Doritos, two pixie sticks, and like 20 of those little robin's egg thingies that you get around Easter time. Cam had eaten another chicken leg, and had flung it into the next room, where we heard a suspicious crash.

Cam and I both eat a lot. Her record in one sitting was eight chicken legs and a breast. My record was two bags of Doritos, a Hershey's bar, and 4 cookies. Without throwing up. We were beasts.

"What do we do now?" Cam asked, recovering from laughing so much.

"Well first, we should probably check what you broke with that chicken bone and hope it's not important," I said, and walked into the kitchen where the crash had come from. She had just knocked down a pan that was had been hanging from the ceiling.

"Now what? A game?" Cam asked. I smiled evilly.

"Oh, no, we are NOT playing chess! You beat me every time!" Cam whined. "We are playing Twister!"

I groaned. Not my favorite game.

We played Twister for awhile, and Cam won, of course. Then she started bragging about how she finally found a game she could beat me at and would remind me of my failure every day for the rest of my life. What a weirdo, I mean it's just a game of Twister!

I looked at my watch and realized that it was already 10:30. "We better call V," I said.

"Yeah, you can call her, I'm kinda worn out," Cam said, walking up the stairs to her bedroom.

I hooked up the computer to the television. Cam said that the computer was untraceable, and I hoped she was right. I have no clue about anything having to do with computers, that's why I have Cam.

Once the computer was hooked up, I opened the program that would send a message to V telling her that we would do a "video chat". All it really is is hearing each other's voices and a letter on a screen, or in V's case, a symbol. When I talk to her I use a lightning symbol, since I do not want to show my face. Both V and I have seen each other's faces, but there is no need to let anyone else know that.

The V appeared on my screen. "You wanted to talk?" I heard in a metallic, computer generated voice.

"Yes, V, we haven't talked in awhile. I wanted you to know we aren't dead," I replied.

"Well that's good, how is your case coming?" V asked. I heard a slurp in the background, and assumed V was drinking tea again.

"It's going well, we just found some evidence that may prove my theory," I said. I hadn't really told V that much about our case, she didn't even know we were working on the Kira case. "How is your mission going?" I asked.

"Same as always I guess, he gets that good jobs and I'm stuck with whatever's left," V mumbled unhappily. She was trying to become a greater detective than L. The problem was, V is a girl, and started detective work after L did, so no one takes her work very seriously, even though she has never failed with whatever task may be given to her. Some people even think that V is L, just using another letter. V gets frustrated sometimes, but she knows that eventually people will see her potential and she will become known.

"What are you stuck with this time?" I asked, playing with a stress ball.

"I have to convince major TV networks to stop showing criminals' faces on the air. It's quite hard actually. Good thing I have my girls," V said. V did not let any men work for her, only women. I think she had a bad experience with men when she was a child so now she does not trust men. Or maybe she's just a feminist.

"Yes, good thing you do. Say, V, do you have any information on L that I could use? My new mission is to try to find out where he is," I stated. V had tried to find L numerous times, but she can never find him. He _is_ good.

"I think I have a few pieces of information you could use. Why are you looking for him in the first place?" V asked. I bit my lip. I didn't want V to know I was working on the Kira case, and will most likely be working_ with_ L. She might not rely on me anymore and think I'm untrustworthy. Or she might ask me to gather information on L. I think it would be best if she didn't know . . .

"You're going to work with him on the Kira case, aren't you?" V asked. I opened my mouth in shock. Sometimes I forget how good V is.

"Yes, I want to try to. But I don't want you to influence me in any way. I won't tell him anything about you, and I won't tell you anything about him," I said

"I'm perfectly fine with you working with him, I just need you to do one thing for me. Out do him whenever you get the chance. Show him that girls _can_ be smarter than him," V said.

I smiled. Same old V. "Of course V, I'll show him who's boss," I said.

I disconnected the computer and went to bed. Tomorrow, I would begin my search for the world's greatest detective.


	5. Names

**(A/N –** This is probably my worst story. I love Cam, but I'm worried about Max's Sue levels, if you know what I mean. The story calls for her to be a really good detective and find out where L is, but when I look at this it isn't exactly the most believable thing I've ever written.

But this story is also my favorite story. The climax is going to be epic. I even wrote a theme song for the series!

I'm so weird. Here's chapter 5)

Chapter 5 – Names

That night, as I slept, I dreamed.

I have always had increasingly weird dreams, especially the nightmares. When I was seven, and my dad died, I had nightmares every night for months. They really scared me. That was because they started a week before his death.

The only thing I would see in the nightmares was a man with a bloody knife, walking through the woods. I was walking behind him. Sometimes I would yell at him, other times I would just follow him, but at the end of the dream, right before I could see his face, I would wake up.

I told people about the dreams, but they just said that it was stress. Even if I told them that the dreams started before my dad's death, they would just say that it could have been a freaky premonition. Sometimes I thought it was a prophecy. Especially right before my uncle died.

The dream I had before his death was the exact same one I had before my father's death, except this time, I had a gun with me. And I killed the man with the knife. That dream haunted me even longer than when my father had died.

Tonight I had another one of the dreams, the kind that I can't explain.

I was walking down a hallway, bathed in flickering fluorescent light. I heard the steady beat of fingers on a keyboard, and wondered what was happening. I started to run down the hallway, but I couldn't get to where the tapping was coming from, I couldn't run fast enough.

Then, I was in a bedroom, lying in a bed. I thought for a second that I had woken up, but then I noticed that this was not my bedroom. I heard steady breathing, and saw that I was not alone in the bed. There was a lump under the covers next to me. I gripped the sheet and was about to reveal who the person was.

I was in a morgue. I could tell, because there was a sheet covering a body on a metal examination table. I felt incredible sadness, and I knew that the person under those sheets was someone I loved. I heard a noise. It was the demon from Light's room. I knew, somehow, that he could help. The demon flew away from me, and I chased it, through the morgue, down the hallway, through the bedroom, never stopping, never slowing down, knowing that only this demon could help me. And then I woke up.

I sat on the bed, sweat covered, and breathing heavily.

"Ugh . . . so confusing!" I muttered, thinking about the dream. I knew that it meant something important, that it was foreshadowing something, but I didn't know what. What I did know, was that someone I love would die. Again. I took my head in my hands, wondering who would die. Cam? I hoped not, I loved Cam like a sister, and would go insane without her. Speaking truthfully, if I lost one more person that was important to me, I would go insane. I would most likely kill someone, whoever had taken the life of someone I loved. I had seen too much death already, I didn't need any more.

I sat in bed, and contemplated about the dream a bit more, then decided not to worry about it. I would know when something would remind me of the dream, I wouldn't be like those idiots in books who obviously have seen something important but are too stupid to notice.

I took off my PJs, and took a nice warm bath. I refuse to take showers. I don't know why, but I just enjoy baths more. Cam thinks I'm nuts.

After I was done, I dried my hair and picked out some clothes. I wouldn't be going out today, so I just threw on some baggy black cargo pants and a gray long sleeve T-shirt that fit my body well. I didn't wear any shoes or socks. Shoes are for wimps.

I walked into the kitchen to see Cam doing Sudoku at the island.

"Put on some shoes you hobo!" Cam yelled at me. She hates almost all of my weird habits.

"Never!" I yelled. I ran over to the fridge and opened the door to look for my favorite breakfast dish. What I saw was an empty platter. I froze. I turned around slowly.

"Where's the cake?" I asked, in a calm voice that could scare any sane person.

"Um . . . I ate it?" Cam said, looking frightened.

"You WHAT!" I yelled, snapping, charging at her.

"Ahh! I'm sorry, please don't kill me!" Cam screamed as I chased her around the living room. She knocked over another lamp.

"YOU BETTER GET ME SOME FUCKIN CAKE OR I'LL RIP YOUR FUCKIN HEAD OFF!" I yelled, chasing her to the door.

"OK!" Cam yelled, and ran out the door. Stupid cake stealing bitch. She better get me devil's food.

I walked downstairs to the second fridge we keep sodas and water bottles and stuff like that in. I opened the door, and found my slice of emergency breakfast cake in the back. I took it out, went into the living room, and ate my cake while watching the Penguins of Madagascar.

When I was about to finish my cake, Cam rushed in with a large cake with chocolate icing. She ran to the kitchen and set it down on the island, she was panting. I guess she ran all the way here with the cake. I walked in with my plate.

"STAY BACK DEVIL CHILD!" she yelled, making a cross with her fingers. Then she noticed my plate. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" She asked, pointing and yelling.

"Um . . . cake?" I said, finishing it off and putting the plate in the sink.

"You mean to tell me that I ran all the way downtown, bought this stupid cake, and come back only to find that YOU HAD EXTRA!" She screamed.

"Pretty much," I said, and smiled. "But that was the quickest way to get more cake from you." I took the cake and stuck it in the fridge. "Just don't eat my cake next time, 'cause that was my last emergency slice."

"UGH!" Cam yelled, and kicked the fridge. "Oww!" She yelled, holding her foot.

"Idiot," I mumbled as I walked upstairs to start the search for L.

I turned on my computer, which Cam had equipped with high tech Cam-made software. Including a specific search engine that would hopefully help me find L a whole lot easier. But that still makes this job impossibly hard. The man has been hiding for years; no one even knows his name, or his face. This was going to be a true test of my skills.

Once the computer started up, I needed to decide how I would even begin to search for L. Maybe if I could just find out where he works from . . .

I know he is working with the Japanese police on the Kira case, V found that out at the last Interpol meeting. Maybe I should just infiltrate the Japanese police? . . .

No, that would never work, even they never see his face. What I need is his name. But if all of his records are gone . . .

Maybe I should just start out by looking for possible names beginning with the letter L. It's more possible than not, maybe I might get somewhere.

I used Cam's search engine, and found a site, , that seemed promising. I started to look through the boys names that begin with the letter L. V had also sent me a recording of L's voice, even though it was computerized. I determined that he was most likely not of African descent, and that he was most likely not Russian. He also didn't seem to hail from Central to South America. So that leaves European, Asian, or American. I narrowed down the names on the site. I was just about to scroll down the list, when I saw the first name there.

_L_

"It's an actual name, what the fuck?" I said. I clicked on history and origin.

_Although becoming more popular in recent years after the detective "L" has revealed his existence to the public, this name was actually discovered in 1932. When a mother was giving birth, she began to write down the name "Lester" on the birth certificate, but it was snatched out of her hands after she had just written "L". The child refused to answer to Lester, and was called L. Although it has never been a popular name, there are still "Ls" in the modern world._

"Cool," I muttered, and decided that this name was a definite possibility for L's real name. I scrolled through the rest of the odder L names, but the name "L" still stood out to me the most. I decided to work on last names.

"Might as well start with L," I decided, and began to scroll through the last name options. I found quite a few that seemed fitting, including "Landerdust" and "Laquisha", but I thought that L's last name would have a bit more . . . class.

_Lawliet_

"Hmm . . . ." The name sounds like something to check out. I clicked on history and origin.

_This last name originated in France in the 1400s. It was a title given to knights receiving higher rank. It was said to mean "he who fights for justice, even when all is against him". It was usually a title given to those who had died valiantly in battle, or who brought great justice on evildoers, even when the majority was on the side of evil. It is an uncommon name, most likely because it was an uncommon title in the 1400s._

I added it to my list of last names.

I continued to search for last names until I had found all that seemed to be strange. Then I opened Cam's search engine. Thanks to V, Cam was able to design a search engine that was connected to all the major sources of information for individuals, including birth certificates, criminal records, and basic life summaries.

I set the engine to only search for matches that are still alive today, and were born in either North America, Europe, or Asia. Then I started typing in names. It was a tiring process. When I looked at the clock I realized it was already one in the morning.

"Ugh," I said, and slammed my head onto the laptop screen. I had been working since 11 AM and still no leads. Stupid L and his stupid smartness. I wasn't even halfway through my list.

I looked at the list. Next name – L Lawliet. "Ugh," I groaned again as I typed the name into the computer. Then I looked for cases where the person had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. There is no way that someone could be L and still live a normal life. Three files popped up.

"Thank god," I said. Good thing it's not a very popular name. I skimmed through the first file, a man in his thirties who had gone missing four years ago. I looked up his IQ scores. Nope.

The second file was a man in his fifties who had disappeared two years ago. Turns out he had quite a colorful criminal file. And was way too stupid to be L.

The third file was . . . interesting. According to it this L Lawliet had been a very smart child, and then his parents died. It didn't say why, but I could guess that it was pretty bad. L had been relocated to an orphanage, but he kept running away, until a man named Quillish Wammy adopted him. Wammy began an orphanage soon after that, but then he seemed to disappear from the face of the earth, along with L. It wasn't that they were missing; just that there were no records of them after the day L was adopted. His IQ was also incredibly high. Even better, he was tested when he was only 7. The files were also highly encrypted; I doubt that if anyone without Cam's supercomputer search engine tried to open the file that they would be able to discover anything. I was lucky to have found this. _So_ lucky.

I smiled. "Gotcha, L."


	6. Outing

(A/N – sorry I updated a day late . . . *insert frowny emoticon* I was watching YouTube videos and forgot! Oh well, it's only a day right?

I would like to thank Stormygio, fezzesandbowtiesarecool, and deathfox13 for reviewing!

A few answers to your questions: I made up the name meanings. So don't believe any of them. Also, yes Max does have a bit of a split personality. This is because she knows she's smarter than Cam, but doesn't think she's _that _smart.

Enough of the author's notes. STORY TIME!

Review for the pooooooodles!)

Chapter 6 – Outing

Light's POV

"Light, what are you doing? Whatever it is, it's boring the hell out of me," Ryuk said, sprawled across Light's bed.

"Just thinking," Light responded, looking at nothing in particular.

"You're thinking about that girl again, aren't you? You've been asking about her for days, and talking about her, and talking in your sleep about her . . ." Ryuk trailed off.

"What did I say in my sleep?" Light asked, looking away from Ryuk to hide his slight blush.

"I dunno, something like 'Max . . . too much ice cream . . . poooooooodles'" Ryuk said.

"Why the hell would I say poodles?" Light asked, looking at Ryuk, and slightly annoyed by him.

"No, you gotta say it like poooooooooodles," Ryuk said, holding the O out way longer than necessary. "But that's not the point, the point is that you have been asking about this girl way more than you normally would, what's up?" Ryuk asked.

"I dunno, it just that she's so hard to read . . . I mean she seems really stupid, but whenever I look at her, I see a calculating look in her eye, like she's analyzing me, seeing if I notice anything . . . different. She just, confuses me, I guess," Light said, and scratched his head. Max really did confuse him, and he didn't know how to deal with the . . . curiosity.

"Hyuk, Light confused by a woman, that's a new one, hyuk, hyuk," Ryuk laughed. "She is a strange one though, I mean she has a notebook collection, how ironic is that?"

Max's POV

I smacked myself on the forehead again.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid. How the hell can I find someone who has dropped off the face of the planet with just a name! I'm screwed! I'll never find L! Fuckin' genius!" I yelled at myself. I was actually sitting up on the couch, which I only do when I'm nervous and can't relax. There was a cup of hot chocolate on the coffee table.

I had found out L's name, but that meant nothing if I didn't know where he was. No matter how much I accomplish, there always seems to be more things that have to be done. An endless cycle of mysteries to solve, and answers to find. I guess finding L is kinda fun. I have never had a case as challenging as this one before.

"Damn, what's got your panties in a knot? Hehe, panties," Cam giggled. "And that thing with the cake . . . so evil," she frowned.

"Cam, I'm just having a bad day, OK? I mean I found L's true name, but-"

"YOU FOUND HIS NAME! YOU'RE A FUCKIN' GENIUS!" Cam screeched, and hugged me tightly.

"Ew, personal contact," I grumbled, and shrugged her off. "Yeah, I found his name, but I have no clue where he could be, or how to find out where he could be, or why the hell I even agreed to this mission in the first place!"

"You came up with the idea. . ."

"Shut up!"

Cam chuckled. "Dude, you and I both know that somehow you'll find him. I don't know if it's just 'cause you're amazingly smart, or if you're just seriously lucky, but you always seem to make everything work. Hell, if you weren't such an idiot with computers you wouldn't even need me!" she said with a smile. Cam walked downstairs to her workshop and shut the door.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I needed a break from all this, just a small vacation from all the drama this mission was causing. Maybe I could go to that bakery down the street. I haven't gone out to eat in weeks, and I didn't feel like a proper meal. Maybe some cookies, or a slice of cake with some quality hot chocolate, not this crap made from a packet.

"Yea, that would be nice . . ." I murmured. I walked to my room and put on some decent clothes, unlike the old gray T-shirt and baggy black cargo pants I could wear for days on end when I was working in my house. I threw on a blue shirt with a penguin on it, skinny jeans, and neon orange converse. I put on some mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss, grabbed my blue purse with the guitar keychain, and walked out the door.

I walked into town, and to a small bakery called the "Moonlight Café". As I walked to the door of the café, I noticed the people sitting inside; a group of college girls, an emo boy in a corner, and a couple in their early thirties. This didn't bother me. What bothered me was the man in the trench coat carrying a large box of sweets to a very expensive car.

V had given me a description of a man who was called Watari, who worked for L and was the only connection to L from the outside world. One of V's girls had been to the last Interpol meeting, and had seen Watari in the flesh. This girl had relayed the information to V, who in turn had informed me. This man looked almost exactly like what V had described. If I follow him, I may be able to find L.

The man put the box in the trunk and got in the driver's seat. I looked for a taxi to hail while he started the ignition. A cab pulled over and I quickly stepped into the back seat.

"Where to?" asked the cabbie.

"I want you to follow that car. Make sure the driver doesn't notice he's being followed, and do as I say," I commanded, pushing the cabbie as I made my way to the passenger seat. The black car in front of us started to move. "Don't just sit there, MOVE!" I yelled. The cabbie squealed and started to follow the car.

For about fifteen minutes we followed the car, staying a few cars behind it, but steadily making our way to wherever it was taking us. I told the cabbie to stray away from the car, and we took about five minutes staying on a road that was out of sight from the black car, but was still heading in the general direction. After about thirty minutes I switched cabs, but kept following the car. It took about two hours, and five cabs, but finally the black car stopped in front of a fancy hotel. I told my cab to stop about a block before the hotel.

I walked down the sidewalk, watching the man in the trench coat get his box out of the trunk. I thought occurred to me. Why the hell would L's right hand man be buying sweets? Does one of them have a sugar addiction or something? Are they storing them for winter, 'cause that's a big box!

I arranged my hair so that it covered part of my face, and walked with my head down. The man carried his box into the hotel. I followed, and decided not to walk with my head down. I sat down in one of the chairs in the lobby. The man, Watari, pressed the elevator button. I looked through magazines from five months ago while he waited for the elevator. When the elevator arrived, I quietly stood up, and acted like I was going to go to the front desk. When the doors closed, I made my way over to the elevator, and watched the numbers as Watari ascended to the tenth floor. But I knew that Watari would not get off on the correct floor. He would be smart, and get off on a floor that he was not staying on, so that he would not give away L's position. I also knew that the box he was carrying was probably really heavy, and that no matter how strong he is, he wouldn't want to carry that thing more than a couple of floors.

I walked to the front desk.

"Hello, welcome to the Pearl Hotel, may I help you?" said a perky lady. According to her nametag, her name was Ai.

"Yes, are there any available rooms on the ninth or eleventh floors?" I asked politely.

"Let me check," said Ai. She typed a few words into her computer. "There are rooms on the eleventh floor, but the ninth floor is booked. Would you like to book a room with us today?" she asked with a smile.

"No thank you," I said. I also smiled. L is in this hotel, I know it. It's too much of a coincidence that a man with the description of Watari would come to a hotel like this, with a whole floor booked by L, so that no one would be able to listen in on his conversations. This was perfect. Cam was right, I do seem to be able to solve things, even when they seem impossible. I took my cell phone out of my bag and dialed Cam's number.

"Hey, where are you?" Cam said. It sounded like she was eating something.

"At the Pearl Hotel. Get the files and call a cab. I found him," I said, smiling so wide it made my cheeks hurt.


	7. L

**(A/N** – Guess who's in this chapter! I bet you'll never guess.

So, chapter 7 (favorite number) is the chapter where Max and Cam finally meet L. I used to love this chapter, but now I just feel "eh". A bit too unrealistic. Oh well, I suck at rewriting, so this is what you get.

You decide if it's good or not.)

Chapter 7 – L

I was pacing in the lobby when Cam ran through the door. I mean she literally ran down the street and hurled herself through the door. I slammed my palm into my forehead. This is why she isn't a field agent.

She was wearing a purple T-shirt that said "You're just jealous 'cause the voices talk to ME", boot cut jeans, and black ankle boots that reminded me of cowboy boots. She was also wearing her ever-present charm bracelet. Like my lightning bolt necklace, I doubt she ever takes it off.

For every case we solve, Cam adds a new charm to her bracelet. She also has others representing the first time Cam and I met, the first time we worked with V, and so on. Cam is very sentimental, and that bracelet is very important to her.

"I brought the files!" Cam said, raising the case. It was the briefcase that we always took on missions. Cam had decided it was her job to find different bumper stickers and other things she could stick on the thing. It was completely covered in them.

"Yea that's nice Cam, thanks for alerting everyone in this fuckin' lobby that you brought it!" I hissed.

"Sorry!" said Cam.

"Just follow me," I said. I opened the door to the stairs and started walking to the ninth floor.

"So you really found him? That's amazing! How the hell did you-"

"Cam, can you keep quiet? We don't want everyone in the building to know there are people walking up the stairs right now. Especially _him_," I said. It's times like this that Cam can get really annoying.

I opened the door to the ninth floor. We quietly stepped into the hallway, which was deserted.

"Where do you-"

I smacked Cam on the side of the head. She gave me a _what the fuck_ look, and I put a finger to my lips. She rolled her eyes. As we walked, I listened for any sounds. If it really was only L on this floor, then he would only be in one room. I heard voices in the room to my right. I pushed past Cam, and put my ear to the door.

"Ryuzaki, the task force is trustworthy . . ."I heard. The voice sounded like that of an older man.

"I don't care how much you seem to trust them, I am not showing my face unless I know that they are not working with Kira," I heard someone say. He sounded much younger, and his voice was not too deep or too high. I guessed this man was "Ryuzaki" whoever that is.

"But L,"

"I told you not to use that name! This room could be bugged!" I suppressed a chuckle. Paranoid much? I don't know why, but I decided to mess with them. I knocked on the door. The room went silent.

"Told you . . ." I heard L say.

Watari looked through the peephole. I waved.

"It's . . . a young lady. Are you expecting someone, Ryuzaki?" Watari said. I imagined his face. Cam was listening too, and was rolling on the ground in silent laughter.

"No. Don't open the door," said L, or Ryuzaki. Damn him. I looked at Cam and nodded. Cam took out her lock picking kit and began to work. About three minutes later, (that lock was good), she opened the door.

I saw an old man in a suit carrying a tray with cake on it, and a man in his twenties sitting in the weirdest way I could imagine. The older man was obviously Watari. The younger one, L . . . I had never pictured him like this. I had frequently imagined L, as a man in his thirties, looking very refined, as a teenager with glasses and chronic acne, as an old man like Watari, with these cases as the last great adventure of his life. But never, _never_, like this.

He was wearing a white long sleeved T-shirt and jeans, both oversized. He was sitting with his legs clutched to his chest, his hands on his knees. His hair was black as night, and it looked like he didn't even know what a comb was. But surprisingly, it looked good on him. None of these things surprised me as much as his eyes. They were like two dark orbs, drawing me in, never faltering. It was like I was in a trance. Then Cam spoke.

"L's a hobo? Where the hell are your shoes!" she yelled, staring at the detective. I slammed my palm into my forehead. Cam, you idiot.

"And who exactly are you?" L asked, looking at us. I felt the same calculating stare that Light had used the first time we had met.

"I'm Max White, and this is Cam Redwood," I stated.

"Bang," L said, holding his hand up like a gun. "If I was Kira, you would have been dead."

"Well I know you're not Kira," I answered.

"Of course you do," L said. I was sure if he hadn't been staring at me he would have rolled his eyes. "Listen, I have no time for you two. Go do whatever you're doing elsewhere," he stated, sipping some tea.

"We can't say this to anyone besides you. We have a good lead on the Kira case, and we don't think that the Japanese police can be trusted. You are the only one we can tell, L," I said, looking into his eyes. It seemed to me that we were having a staring contest. "I also possess information that is so important; I could count those who know this fact on one hand."

"And what information could that be," L asked, looking bored.

"Your name," I said. He spilled a bit of his tea. Then he regained his composure. "You could never know my real name, that information has been destroyed," he said, this time looking at Watari. Watari nodded.

"Would you like me to tell you? I am a woman of my word; I wouldn't lie about something like this. And don't try to tell me the name is wrong, I know it's right," I stated. The whole time I was talking to him, I stared into his eyes. I didn't know how to look away.

"Then whisper it to me," L said. I walked to the chair he was sitting in. I looked away from his eyes, and gained a bit more confidence. I smiled as I whispered into his ear, "L Lawliet."

As I backed away, I saw L's eyes, and I could make out a few emotions that flashed through them. I saw that he was a bit afraid, and maybe, impressed? His mouth twitched in a way that suggested he was suppressing a smile.

"You two can help with the investigation. I really have no choice," he said. L looked a bit resigned, like a child that had lost a board game. "And Watari, please destroy whatever sources there are that could lead anyone else to my true name." Watari looked astonished. Cam was smiling.

"Give me any information that you have gathered. And call me Ryuzaki. If this room is bugged, I don't want anyone to find out that I am L," L said. I was in such a good mood, I said something that I probably shouldn't have.

"Can I call you R then? I think the one letter thing is . . . sexy." I said with a smirk. Ryuzaki blushed furiously.

"Hey, Watari dude, you got any chicken?" asked Cam, smiling.

"I think it's about time you two leave. You will be informed if there is to be a meeting or if Ryuzaki and I change hotels." He pushed us out the door and slammed it in our faces.

And so ended my first encounter with the world's greatest detective.

**(A/N** – Another thing, I have another story set in the Mello/Near arc, Yes, My Alias is a Cereal. It's not my best work, but please check it out!

Also, I have a DN/Hangover crossover called the Blackout. If you know the Hangover, read it, and even if you don't know the Hangover, you can still read it. It's more of a humor/crack story, but I tried to keep everyone in character as much as I could.)


	8. Feelings

**(A/N** – Yay! It's Friday, Friday, gotta update on a Friday! So, chapter 8. I like this chapter. I really have no clue why. And will somebody please check out my Death Note/Hangover crossover? It's just the Death Note characters, you don't need to know anything about the hangover.

Review if you agree with Cam's description of "the guy"!)

Chapter 8 – Feelings

When we got back to the house, Cam was rambling. Another reason why she isn't a field agent: after an important assignment, she can't shut up.

"Omygod did you _see_ L? He was like you, not wearing any shoes and looking like a hobo. And he was wearing clothes like you except his shirt is white and he wears jeans and I think he likes sugar too, I mean I saw this _huge_ box of candy in the kitchen. I think you are probably more like L than V!-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. My face was flushed. It was partially because of the excitement of working with L and annoyance with Cam, but it also was because of what I said to L before we left. I mean what was I thinking! The one letter thing is sexy! WHAT THE HELL! He probably thinks I'm a pervert, or a slut, or even worse . . . a complete idiot. What if we're kicked off the case because of that, what if Watari never calls us back, what if-

"Max, you're pacing. And you're blushing. Oooo! I bet you like him!" Cam exclaimed, smiling widely.

"Like who?" I said, slightly confused.

"L!" She sang, while nudging me with her elbow.

"What! He's like . . . weird," I said. After I said it, I realized how weak that sounded.

"You like him!" Cam sang, skipping into the kitchen.

"Do not!" I yelled, running after her. I really don't. I mean he's . . . OK there's nothing _not_ to like about him, but I don't think of him like _that_!

"Do too! You wanna solve the case _all by yourselves_," Cam said, waggling her eyebrows.

"What does that even _mean_!" I yelled, my voice getting higher.

"Max and L, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G-"

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE SUCH A BABY!" I yelled.

"AND YOU'RE SUCH A LIAR!" she yelled back, still smirking. "It's so obvious you do, just because of your reactions. At first I was only kidding!"

I was as red as a tomato by this time.

"You have taught me a few ways to identify suspect behavior, and I know when somebody has a crush!" Cam said.

"I do not have a crush on anyone! I'm like V, I don't need a man!" I said, crossing my arms and turning away from her like a child.

"Oh, c'mon Max! You know you're not like V! I see you checking out guys all the time! V's just . . . different. But I bet even she won't be able to resist _the guy_," Cam said.

"Who's _the guy_?" I asked, feeling stupid because I had no clue what guy she was talking about.

"You know, that one guy that you know is the one, who you just can't resist, like Edward and Bella!" Cam said, referencing Twilight.

"Ew, I don't want a creepy vampire stalking me everywhere cause he's _the guy,_" I said. I never had really liked Twilight, and the movie version of Edward was even worse.

"Oh, you know what I mean. That guy who won't cheat on you, who will protect you from hobos who want your sandwich, and will always be there for you," Cam fantasized, looking off into the middle distance.

"Tell me to call this dude whenever I run into hobos who enjoy Dorito sandwiches," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Whatever, you can keep telling yourself you don't but you really do like him," Cam smiled. Just then, the doorbell rang. Cam raised an eyebrow.

"It must be Light, I think today I have 'tutoring'" I air quoted the 'tutoring'. Cam nodded and I opened the door. Light stood there with a math book and a lollipop shaped like a flower.

"I thought you might not be feeling well, so I got you this," Light said, handing me the lollipop. If it had come from anybody else, I would have thought it was sweet. If it came from Light, I would have to make sure it's not poisoned first.

I noticed the demon behind Light too. I realized that every time Light had been to my house, so had this thing. I wonder if the first day Light had come over, this demon had been in our air band as well. I just ignored the beast and invited Light in.

"Thanks, it has all the beauty of flowers, and all the taste of candy! Very functional, Light," I said. As Light was sitting down on the sofa, I watched as Cam walked downstairs. Noticing me watching her, Cam turned around and mouthed to me "you little tramp", winked, and disappeared down the stairs.

"Why weren't you in school today?" Light asked, looking up at me. I sat down next to him.

"I had a bit of a stomachache this morning, so I didn't come to school. Turned out to be nothing," Istated.

"Well I'm sorry you felt bad. I'm also sorry about the other day. I had no idea about your family Maxi-chan," Light said, looking into my eyes. I saw something in his eyes that was different from when we last met. His eyes were no longer calculating me, there was something else there . . . pity, maybe?

"It's OK Light-kun, I'm sorry that I broke down like that, sometimes it just, happens," I said with as much sincerity as I could.

Light put his hand on mine, and smiled. Part of me was shouting _what the hell!_ While another part was saying _um . . . if the demon is watching this does that make him a pervert? _

"It's alright, I don't mind. As long as you are safe and happy, Maxi-chan," Light said, smiling. _Oh ew, how sappy, it's like one of those chick flicks_, I thought. I also wondered why Light was so . . . romantic? Cutesy? Freaken insane? Why the hell does he choose today to show up and act like we're a couple from a fuckin Disney movie? Is this a new trick to make me think he's innocent? Oh well, two can play at this game.

"Aw, that makes me so happy Light-kun!" I said, hugging him. He hugged me back. He muct have been wearing cologne, he smelled really good . . . serial killer Max, serial killer, just remember that . . .

"Well we should probably get to work on this homework. You missed a whole day of school, so it might take awhile to catch up," Light said, taking out the math book.

"Let's go upstairs to my room, there's more room to study," I said, smiling and guiding Light up the steps. I wasn't being suggestive, I was speaking the truth. And no way in hell I would do _it_ with somebody, _anybody_, with that demon thing watching. As Light and I walked up the stairs, it kept going hyuk hyuk hyuk. I mean, what the fuck?

"So today we learned more about the direct variation in line equations . . ." I zoned out again. I asked Light questions and he answered them, like usual, and when we were done, we just talked.

"You caught on pretty quickly to those direct variations," Light said. We were lying on my bed, facing the ceiling. His leg slightly touched mine.

"You're just saying that. I suck at crap like this," I stated, indication the math book by Light's side.

"Well what are you good at?" Light asked. Was it just me, or was he being suggestive?

The demon chuckled. Oh yeah, he was being suggestive.

"Well, drawing and singing and a few other things. I'm more of the creative type, ya know?" I answered, obviously avoiding the suggestive hint.

"That's cool, do you draw a lot?" Light asked, bouncing back after the obvious rejection.

"Mostly during class," I admitted.

"That explains why you need me! If you would pay attention you would be the smartest person in the entire school!" Light exclaimed, smiling at me. I could be the smartest in the school even without paying attention, you dumbass.

"Hehe! You're just saying that!" I giggled, and nudged his arm. All this personal contact was a bit much for me, but I needed to keep my cover.

He nudged me back. Then we just started poking each other and laughing. At that point I had kinda forgotten that this dude had killed hundreds of people, and I was just having fun. Then he tickled me.

"Ah! Stop it Light, I'm gonna-" I fell off the bed.

"Haha, I win!" Light said, smirking down at me. I threw a pillow at him. He threw one back. So we had a pillow fight, occasionally throwing one into the demon, who would grunt and inconspicuously pelt it at Light. Whenever I saw the demon, I would remember who Light really was, and I was thankful for that. Although we had a lot of fun, I could never trust this man, and we could never be friends. And definitely not more than friends.

"Oh my god, it's like nine! You better go, Light-kun," I said, practically pushing him down the stairs.

"Aw, but we were having so much fun!" Light whined.

"See you at school!" I shouted, and shoved him out the door.

Stupid men.


	9. Crush

(A/N – YAY! Matsuda's in this chapter! I love Matsuda, even though some other people think he's an annoying twit. Well, I like him, and he deserves some love, that's why there's MatsudaxOC written in the info. I still like this chapter, even though it's kinda weird =]

Coming Soon: Silver (for the Bleach fandom))

Chapter 9 – Crush

The next day I dressed for school in relative peace, except for Cam's humming of the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song. She handed me my lunch with its strange contents and said, "try not to get killed today!"

Oh yeah, she's pleasant.

When I got to school I sat between Light and Mai, as usual. When the teacher started to talk about some math crap, I decided to draw. It's a weird habit of mine, drawing when I'm bored. I think the only person with weirder habits would be . . . well I don't know him that well, but most likely L.

I decided to draw the people I sat next to. I started with Mai. She was pretty simple to draw, long strait hair, nice figure, average height. Next I drew Light, on another page of my notebook. He was slightly harder to draw, probably because I kept making him look eviler than necessary. After I finished that, I drew him and Mai as chibis. Halfway through English class, or my second Mai chibi, my phone vibrated in my bag. Thank god it was only a text, or else I would have gotten some kind of weird school punishment. I asked to use the bathroom and brought my bag with me. I looked at the message. I didn't recognize the number.

_We're having a meeting – W_

Watari. Thank god. I was starting to worry about my last comment to L . . . I need to get out of this school. I quietly snuck over to the nearest window, opened it, and dropped to the ground, landing quietly, and walking swiftly off campus. I hailed a cab. Once I had given the cabbie his directions, I called Cam.

"Hey Max, did you get the text?" Cam asked.

"Yeah, I'm heading over to the hotel right now," I responded.

"Cool, I'll meet you there," Cam said, and she hung up. I sighed. I can't believe I'm going to see those two again, Watari and L. Hell, I can't even believe I was able to find L in the first place. That time I first saw those two was . . . weird, to say the least. I couldn't stop playing it over and over again in my head.

I thought of Watari. How could such a nice old man be the Watari the world sees, that man in a trench coat and hat? It's so strange, how everything is not what it seems. I wonder if that box of sweets was for L.

I thought of L. What a strange man he was, with his weird sitting position and eyes like twin black holes, drawing you in and never letting you go. How was I going to stop staring at his eyes? What if we have some sort of weird staring contest in front of Cam and Watari? I'll just have to try to avoid him. If I'm this worried about staring into his eyes, does this mean I have a crush on him, like Cam said? No, I think if I liked someone I would be the first to know. There is no reason for the world's greatest detective to like a girl, so why would I waste my time liking him? Oh man, now Cam has me obsessing over something that isn't even true . . .

The cab door opened. My palms were sweating. I felt so weird, nervous was not in my vocabulary . . . and yet my palms are sweating and I have a nervous feeling in my stomach? Oh, god . . . I noticed I was still wearing my school uniform, and I freaked out. What will Watari and L say if they saw me in this? I look like some sort of idiotic school girl! That _is _my cover, but they don't have to know that!

"Max, what's wrong with you!" Cam yelled, running over to me. She held two duffle bags and was wearing a gray T-shirt and jeans with her black ankle boots and her charm bracelet.

"What's in those bags?" I asked, hoping it wasn't a bomb or something equally weird.

"Clothes and stuff, I thought we could ask L if we could stay in one of his extra hotel rooms so we can be a greater help to him and whoever he's gonna be working with," Cam said.

"So there's extra clothes for me in there?" I asked. Cam nodded. "Thank GOD! I thought I was gonna have to wear this stupid uniform!" I exclaimed, reaching for the bag.

"Is that what you were freaking out over? Oh my god . . ." Cam trailed off. We walked into the hotel, and I changed in the bathroom near the lobby. Cam had packed me a purple shirt that read "who said I was normal?", skinny jeans, and my purple high tops. I put my clothes on, ran a brush through my hair, and Cam and I headed for the ninth floor. When we opened the door, we saw a few men getting off of the elevator. Cam looked at me.

"I have no clue," I said in response to her unasked question. I approached the men. "Excuse me for asking, but why the hell are you here?" I asked.

"We're here to meet L!" said a man in his early twenties, smiling. Another man smacked him on the back of the head.

"Don't tell them that, Matsuda! One of them could be Kira!" said dude #2.

"Oh, yea, that was stupid," The man named Matsuda said, with an embarrassed smile.

"Who are you?" asked an older man, who looked like he was in charge.

"We're working with L. He told us to come to this meeting," said Cam. Her eyes were scanning the men. Did she look . . . nervous?

"He never said anything about others coming to this meeting," said a fourth guy.

"Well, then he's rude," I said.

"I believe that you two are working with L, although it doesn't sound probable," said the older man. "We'll meet L first, why don't you two stay outside until he's finished talking with us."

"Sounds good to me," said Cam.

The five men knocked on the door to L's room.

"Please enter, I've been awaiting you," I heard L say through the door. I suppressed a giggle. Cam didn't.

"Hehehe!" she laughed. The man named Matsuda looked at her. Cam's face got really red and she looked away. Matsuda smiled at her before walking into L's room. I looked at Cam and whispered "Cam and Matsuda sitting in a tree-" she elbowed me in the ribs.

Cam managed to catch the door before it closed, and we peeked into the room as L and the men talked.

"I'm L,"L stated. He was actually standing up. He was slouching terribly.

"I'm detective superintendent Yagami of the NPA," said the old man. My eyes widened. This was Light's dad? I knew he was the superintendent, but he's working with L now? Light was getting his information through his father; I would have to make sure that he cannot leak any information to Light.

"I'm Mogi,"

"I'm Ukita,"

"I'm Aizawa,"

"I'm Matsuda," the other men said, going down the line.

"Bang," L said, holding his hand like a gun. Oh my god, does he do that to everyone he meets? I had an idea.

"Bang," I said, walking through the door. "Then, if you go like this," I tilted my hand, "L."

L looked annoyed. Cam, Matsuda, and Ukita laughed.

"If either of us had been Kira, you would have been dead. All Kira needs is a face and a name to kill," L stated, trying to regain some dignity. I was still smiling from the "bang" thing. L looked at me, and I truly couldn't tell what he was thinking, but it seemed more like amusement than anger.

"Although common sense says you can't kill anybody just by knowing their name and face, this is how Kira kills. We have no choice but to believe it," L said. "We're the only ones left who are willing to risk our lives for this, so let's be careful about telling people our names. **Let's value our lives**."

I felt foolish for my joke now that he said that, even so, I was glad I had done it. These people needed some comic relief. Matsuda and Yagami were talking quietly. L told everyone to turn their electronic equipment off and put it on a table. I turned my cell phone off and placed in on the table next to Cam's. L led our little group into a living area, where he sat down in his strange way. A few of the taskforce members exchanged looks.

"I just can't stand it when someone's cell phone rings when I'm talking," L stated. That reminded me of my sixth grade history teacher.

"Two more things, don't write down anything I say here, just keep it in your heads. And don't call me L anymore. Call me Ryuzaki from now on," he glanced at me when he said this. I turned a slight shade of pink, remembering my reaction to this information the last time we met.

"For safety's sake," he concluded. "Now please sit down, you make me feel like a fool when I'm the only one sitting." Mogi, Aizawa, and Ukita took the chairs, and Matsuda and Yagami took the sofa. Somehow, Cam was able to squeeze her way next to Matsuda on the sofa, even though it was only meant for two people. I rolled my eyes. There was nowhere else to sit, and everyone was staring at me. I moved a lamp and sat on an end table.

"I just had an idea, why don't we just tell the media to stop running the names and faces of criminals? If that's what Kira needs to kill, wouldn't that limit the number of victims?" Matsuda asked. His cheeks were a little pink, as if he was trying to show off for Cam. She was also blushing, probably because her leg was pressed against his. Ah, young love.

"If we do that, ordinary people will be killed," L stated. That startled me. Does that mean V's idea was wrong?

"Why would ordinary people be killed?" Cam asked. Matsuda was looking a bit down since his theory was wrong.

"Kira is childish, and hates losing," L said as he stirred his tea. "You guessed it, I'm also childish and hate losing," he took a sip. "That's how I know." I thought about what he had said. I think I was like Kira in that way as well. No matter what the contest may be, I never want to lose, so matter how insignificant. I may say it's just a game, but I hate to lose.

"L . . . sorry, Ryuzaki, could you explain that a little more clearly?" asked Yagami, who looked deeply disturbed by how much Matsuda was squished against him.

L talked about how Kira would never back down when he had been challenged, but had responded with a challenge of his own. He also talked about the FBI agents that had been killed, which I had no clue about until then. I compared who L thought Kira could be to Light Yagami. Light fit perfectly. He hated to lose, and whenever I would challenge him, like the pillow fight, he would want to come out on top.

L talked some more about Kira's mental process and how he would respond if the media stopped showing the names and faces of criminals. He also came up with an idea to piss Kira off basically. The media would announce that 1,500 agents would be sent to Japan for a "Kira manhunt". I personally knew that Light would never fall for it, but there was no reason to tell L that.

"Do you mind if I share my thoughts on the case with you?" I asked. I was getting pretty bored. "Kira is one person, acting alone, and he has access to taskforce information," I stated.

"Why do you think he's alone?" asked Aizawa. _Because he tutors me for math you twit._ "Let the girl finish speaking, Aizawa," said Yagami. I realized I hadn't told these people my name.

"By the way, I'm Max White." I glanced at L to make sure he wasn't going to "shoot" me. "He needs to know his victim's name and face to kill them, and he is able to control his victim's time of death, and certain actions before death," it was a good thing I had read the rules of the notebook, or else I wouldn't have known that.

"I agree completely," said L, looking at me with a bit of astonishment in his eyes. "Keep what Max has said in mind while you listen to me," L stated. He started writing on the table with a black marker. Where the hell did he get that? Did he pull it out of his hair?

L talked about how Kira had known about the FBI agents and how he tested his abilities in order to kill them. I had been keeping track of Kira's movements, until the time I had found out Light was Kira. I hadn't known about the FBI agents, or their deaths, though. I was glad L talked about it, so I could catch up with what time I had lost.

"This is great! If we know this much, we can get him, even if there's only nine of us!" Matsuda exclaimed, nearly whacking Cam with his weird arm movements. "Sorry miss," Matsuda said sheepishly to Cam.

"It's OK, and my name's Cam," Cam said, smiling.

"So, any questions?" L asked, looking bored.

Mogi, Aizawa, and Ukita were quietly talking about the case. Yagami spoke up. "I have a question for you, Ryuzaki. Earlier you said you hate losing, but by showing your face to us, aren't you admitting that Kira defeated you?" Everyone was looking at L.

"Yes, showing myself, and the loss of those FBI agents' lives, means I lost. But I'll win in the end. Like you, this is the first time I've staked my life on a contest. Let's show him that the good guys always win." L smiled. I was looking directly at him when he did. It took my breath away. His eyes caught mine, and I felt like I could just melt into his smile and his eyes. Now I know Cam was right.

I've got a crush on the world's greatest detective.

Crap.


	10. Losing

**(A/N – **So, another Friday. I'm glad I can get this out, there's some serious shiz going on in the east coast right now. Poor little ocean-siders.

I took the Mary Sue litmus test for Max. Run away. Now. She's the biggest Sue you could find. *cry* I'm so ashamed. I'm going to keep posting this story because you guys like it, and also because I want to finish it.

Also, I'm sorry for all the readers of My Betrayal. I'll have the next chapter out on Friday, I swear. I've been overrun with back to school crap. I know, lame excuse. Anyway, here's the story.)

Chapter 10 – Losing

"That's right," said Mogi.

"The good guys are gonna win!" exclaimed Matsuda.

"Let's show him!" cried Ukita.

"Yea, let's get him L! . . . oops, Ryuzaki!" yelled Aizawa.

"It's Kira ass whooping time!" Cam shouted.

I heard them all yell, but it was like I was far away from them, I could only see L. He was still smiling, and looking at me, staring into my eyes. I couldn't look away from him. It seems like every time I look into his eyes, I can't look away. But this time it was both his eyes and his smile that were captivating me. I needed to look away, what if he thought I was weird for just staring at him like that? What if I was drooling? I know I'm not drooling . . . but still!

L looked away from me, but continued smiling, even though I was the only one who could see him.

"I'd like to speak to each of you alone, to make sure you're not Kira. Including you two," he said before Cam could even open her mouth. "We can begin with Yagami-san."

As soon as L and Yagami walked into the other room, everyone started talking.

"I can't believe we're working with L!" said Ukita. He looked like he might start hopping up and down and squealing like a teenage girl.

"Me neither, he's weird isn't he?" Matsuda said. He was still sitting quite close to Cam.

"Yeah, he really is, you should have seen him the first time _we_ met him," Cam said, looking at me with a smirk. I glared at her.

"How long have you guys been working with him?" Aizawa asked.

"We just met him yesterday, but I bet if anyone worked with him for a long period of time they would start sitting like him," I said. Everyone chuckled.

"Only yesterday? How did you get him to agree to have you help with the case? He doesn't seem like he would trust people who knocked on his door and said, 'hey, I'm not Kira, can I help with the case?'" Ukita remarked.

"Well, we kind of blackmailed him," Cam said.

"How the hell can you blackmail L? Is that even possible?" Matsuda asked.

"We didn't blackmail him Cam, we just . . . impressed him with our vast knowledge," I stated.

"_Our_ vast knowledge? More like _your_ knowledge! Sometimes I think you're more like L than L!" Cam exclaimed.

"You're supposed to say Ryuzaki, remember?" Mogi commented.

"Yea Max, _Ryuzaki,_" Cam taunted, nudging me on my end table. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Whatever, I wasn't thinking . . ." I pathetically tried to defend myself. Why does everyone have to bring up that "R" comment!

"You were thinking about_ something_," Cam nudged me again.

"Um, what the hell are you guys talking about?" Aizawa asked, giving us a _WTF?_ face.

"Oh, nothing, just how yesterday Max said that-" I shoved my hand over her face.

"That bunnies are adorable! Now let's change the – OW!" I yelled. Cam had bitten my hand.

"Cam, you don't say anything about that, and I won't say anything about your little _thing_," I said flicking my eyes towards Matsuda. Cam blushed bright red.

"You two are weird," said Aizawa.

"Read the shirt, buddy," I said, motioning to my "Who said I was normal?" shirt.

"I can't, that's in English," Aizawa pointed out.

"Twit," I said.

Just then, L called for Aizawa to be questioned. We continued to talk as Mogi, Matsuda, and Ukita were also called to be interrogated. We mostly talked about the case, and different information we had uncovered about Kira. I didn't mention anything about Light being Kira, because I didn't want Yagami to think badly of me.

"Max, please come for questioning," L called, sending Ukita back.

"Good luck!" called Cam. I rolled my eyes at her and walked into the room that L had chosen for the interrogations.

"Hello Max," L said as I sat down. He was eating some sugar cookies and drinking tea. Yup, that box of sweets was for him.

"Ryuzaki," I said carefully. I didn't want to freak him out by calling him R.

"You may call me R if you wish, Maxi-chan," L said, his mouth twitching as if he was going to smile.

I grinned at him. "R, then."

"I'm 96.8% sure you're not Kira, but I would like to question you just the same," he stated.

Huh, he uses percentages too. "OK, interrogate away."

"About this information regarding the case your associate Cam gave to me," L raised a large file entitled "KIRAAAAA!" in Cam's sloppy handwriting, with two fingers. "How did you gain all this information regarding Light Yagami?"

"Well, I gained information about his IQ, GPA, and national test scores online, and through the school. I also gained personal information like family members, date of birth, et cetera, from the internet. I gained the information regarding my strong conviction that he is Kira from personal experience," I explained, looking at the file and not at him unless we have another stare off.

"What personal experience would that be?" L asked. I looked up at him to see that he was biting his thumb. Ohmygod that was hot. I felt my face heat up and I returned my gaze to the file.

"I decided to further investigate my subject that I should come into contact with him. I am enrolled at the same high school as him, and he tutors me on Thursdays and alternate Mondays," I answered.

"So, you pretended to be a stupid schoolgirl to get to know him better, and try to gain evidence that he is Kira by doing so?"

I looked up slightly and nodded.

"How idiotic. You could have been killed. If he believes you know he is Kira he could tell you so and then have you do whatever he wishes or he will kill you. Incredibly stupid," L said, eating a cookie.

Now this guy was irritating me. Who was he to say that I was stupid? I found his fuckin' name for Pete's sake! Oh, he's gonna get it. I looked him straight in the eye.

"Yes, I could have been killed, but I was positive that I would not reveal that I was investigating him, one, because I am a good actress, two, because I am a woman, and I know for a fact that Light does not take women seriously, and three, because I have taken precautions to make sure that he will not be able to kill me. You have no right to call me stupid. I have uncovered, with the help of Cam, your name, your whereabouts, and I have a strong conviction on the true identity of Kira. I doubt that any stupid person would be able to uncover these facts," I said, and then I drew in a deep breath, because I had been so passionate in my speech I had forgotten to breathe. That, and the fact that I was looking L in the eye, which didn't help the matter.

"I'm sorry for calling you stupid, but your actions regarding Light Yagami were irrational, no matter how convinced you may have been that he would not reveal that you were investigating him. You should have contacted me or the taskforce before you did something like that," L stated, his gaze not faltering from mine.

"Personally, I think knowing someone's name and face but not knowing they are investigating you is far more effective than knowing someone is investigating you but not knowing who they are," I said, glaring at him. Stupid L and his stupid cuteness and him stupidly pissing me off.

"Well, that is your opinion, not mine," he said, sipping his tea. In indignation, I swiped one of his cookies and ate it before he even knew what had happened. I then crossed my arms and pouted like a child.

L almost smiled. "You are also like Kira and I." I raised an eyebrow.

"You hate losing."

I nodded, my mouth still full of cookie.

"As you know, I also hate losing. So the next time you bring food here with you, I will steal it, no matter what it is," he said. I smiled. I didn't doubt for one second that L was telling the truth.

"You may leave, Maxi-chan, I do not completely believe you are innocent of being Kira, but the percentage is high enough that you may continue to work on this case with me," L said.

I smiled wider. "Thanks R!" He had said I could work on the case with _him_, not the taskforce. Did he mean to say that, or did he just say something wrong, like I sometimes do? I hope it was the first one.


End file.
